Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travelist: The 500 Best Places on the Planet...Ranked

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Tikal (Guatemala) — Shrouded in thick rainforest and centuries of mystery, the ancient Mayan city of Tikal is one of the least-known great sites of antiquity in the West. Alhambra (Granada, Spain) — "Sheer red walls set against a mountain backdrop, the palace complex dominating Granada's skyline is perhaps the most refined example of Islamic art anywhere in the world," says LP of Spain's celebrated Moorish palace. Petra (Jordan) — Known to many from the final scenes of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Jordan's rock city of Petra was carved more than 2,300 years ago. Four decades after it began as a penniless backpacker’s bible to traveling on the cheap, Lonely Planet is publishing what it says is the definitive guide to the world’s top tourism attractions. Lonely Planet says: It’s a myth that it can be seen from space, but this awe-inspiring maze of walls and fortifications stretching for an astonishing 5500 miles across rugged landscape seems both infinite and indestructible.

Apostles (Australia) — Appropriately listed at number 12, Australia's 12 Apostles are wind and wave-eroded pinnacles that lie off the coast of Victoria. Great Wall (China) — China's vast fortification is described by Lonely Planet as seeming both "infinite and indestructible. More than 500 active geysers spout in Yellowstone's enormous, steaming landscape - Old Faithful being the most famous.With development and visitor numbers in the delta strictly regulated to protect the environment, the Okavango is one of the most exclusive destinations on the planet. Lonely Planet says: Church, mosque and museum in one, Istanbul’s Aya Sofya defies easy categorization. Fiordland National Park (New Zealand) — Carved by ancient glaciers and riven by towering cliffs that feature countless waterfalls, Fiordland makes the list despite, no doubt, stiff competition from New Zealand's dozen other national parks. Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) — Among the most environmentally precious -- and sensitive -- regions on earth, the Galapagos Islands attract travelers who keen to admire the incredible bio-diversity that helped inspire Charles Darwin's evolutionary theories. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use.

This is like North America's answer to an African safari, although here the Big Five creatures are bison, bighorn sheep, elk, bear and wolf. Erected between 1283 and 1330, as well as outlining the castle's role in the Norman conquest of Wales, the guide points out the "fairy-tale aspect" of its "colour-banded masonry and polygonal towers".We've all got a list of places that we want to see for ourselves: places friends have enthused about, places we've read about, dreamed about. On the Argentinian side, a boardwalk leads through jungle vegetation replete with butterflies and squawking parrots, passing a series of increasingly impressive falls until finally the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) comes into view. Lonely Planet says: Sheer red walls set against a mountain backdrop, the palace complex dominating Granada’s skyline is perhaps the most refined example of Islamic art anywhere in the world, and the most enduring symbol of 800 years of enlightened Moorish rule in medieval Spain. Describing the abbey as "cloaked in romance" and "nibbled by lichen and ruined to just the right degree", the guide goes on to mention how Tintern inspired the paintings of Turner and poetry of Wordsworth.